Tobacco-bed-steaming apparatus.



2r. H. L. JOHNSON.Vv TOBACCO BD STBAMING APPARATUS.

v Patented Mar. 26, 1912.

H ETS J. H. L. JOHNSON.

TOBAGGO BED STBAMING APPARATUS.

y APPLICATION FILED MAY a, 1911. l 1,021,529. l Patented Manz, 1912.

3 BHBETS-BEBET-2.

J. H. L. JOHNSON.

TOBACCO BED STEAMING APPARATUS. APPLoATIoN Hmm MAY a, 1911.

' Patent-.ea Mar.`26, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNiTED STATES PATENT oEFIoE.v

JOHN H. L .To. 1EtNsON,l or SPRINGFIELD, TENNESSEE, assIoNoa TO"SPN.INGFIELD'PLANT- BED' STEAMING COMPANY, or SPRINGFIELD', TENNESSEE.

TOBACCO-BEDQSTEAMING Aanamnesi?Us,

, Specicatn .of Letters Patent.` .l

f .Patented Manac', 1912;

Application ied May 8, 1911. SerialNO. 625,849.

To all whom it may concern;

Beit known that I, JOHN H. L. JOHNSON,

citizen ofthe United States, residing at mechanism for steamingtobacco beds,

whereby the seeds,y seed'germs and roots of noxious weeds or other vegetation, theafter' growth of which would be detrimental to the crop which itis designed. to cultivate, are destroyed. Y l

The presentinvent-ion has for its primary object an apparatus of this character -whic will have 'a maximum efficiency'.` over' a -rela tively large `area y of ground, whereby the:

\ `boilerfor the supply ofthesteammayremain in the roadfand the 'steaminghood'- easily moved from one bed to`ano ther overv a comparatively large: number of`bed s,1 this being a desideratum, as is evident, owing to the fact that'it is sometimes mpracticable, ifnot impossible, to move" thetractiorr or other boiler furnace from. the road, On account of the fencing or funderbru'sh, whereas with. my invention-the piping thatconveys the steam, may easilypass through the fence or underbrush, so as to make connectlon with the steam hood at the beds.

The invention also has for itsobjectan improvedapparatus of this character embodying a novel and luseful construction of" steaming hood, wherebyI either moist or .superheated dry`steam may be applied to the ground, according to the partlcular atmospheric and other conditionsthereof existf ing at the time it becomes necessary to repare th'e beds for plant-lng or seeding; d

the invention also aims to general-lyimprove this cla-ss of devices,4 and torender them i more useful and commercially desirablel With these `and other objects in View as will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions arrangements and combinations of the parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe' and claim.

For a full.` understanding of the invention, reference is tobe had tothe following description and accompanying drawings, in .wh1ch: l l

Figurel is a. perspective view' of-one form or embodiment 4Ot my mventlon, only a portion of the piping kbeing shown; Fig;

2 isa top plan view. of the apparatus; Fig.

53 isa `longitudirnll sectional view through the steaming hood'; and, Fig. 4 is a transverse sectionalview of the hood, the section j beingv takenapproximately on the liney 4-4 of Fig.l 3.

Corresponding andlike parts are referred- 'to inthe following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by' the same reference characters.-

In carrying out my invention, I employ ai traction or other Vportable steam boiler 1",

mounted upon one end of avehicle 2 of any `desired construction, and type, said vehicle;

pipe] includes a section 4 leading direct-1y turn` thereon "about a` substantially longitu- -fromfthe boiler 'f1-,fand fan elbow connected e yto :one endl-of the section .4 'and mounted to. 'f a o d inally'extending and `hc'irizontally 4disposedffv I axis, land piping 6'of any desired length and.' vconstrl'lcted inany, desired number of-joined .parts-orsections. Y The piping 6 is detachably connected at 'onef end to thelaterally extending end of the elbow 5, 'as .indicated in Fig. 2,1 and is'- provided with any desired number of forwardly and rearwardly eX- tending branches 7` arranged in pairs, asshown, and .each provided with a globe -or other valve 8; These branches'? maybe disposed .at any desired distances apart. The

4piping 6 maybe supported'in any `desired wayin slightlyel'evated position from the ground,- 'asby blocks 9' on which the pipe loosely rests. The piping 6 is providedbeA tween everytwo pairs, ofbranches .7 withl globe' o r other :valves 1 0. .A jpreferably flexible hoseQl-lisxused to Abe connectedv to g any of the-branches?, or, ifdesired, to the endv of the'piping 6, with a nozzle 12 leading into the superheating-chamber 13 of the steaming hood'14, the latter being construct-` l ed of any desired material or substance, and of any desired shape fand. size according to the particular requirements of the case and being open at the bottom,- as clearly vindiv 'cated in Figs. 3 and 4. f

Thesuperheating chamlier 13Y is s'urrou/iided by a* furnace 1 5 lwhich is provided at either end with a door 16, whereby the chamber may be heated to supply the hood 14 with dry steam, whenever desired, this Abeing necessary under some conditions of 5 the soil, particularly in View of the fact that the steam will be liable to condense in traveling through the relatively long piping 6 and hose 11, before it reaches the hood. The nozzle 12 is controlled by means of a globe or other valve 17 andthe dry steam is fed hood 14 by means of a conduit 18 which leads downwardly from the su crheating chamber through the top of an into the 15 hood, as clearly illustrated in' Figs. 3 and L The nozzle 12 is provided with a branch Y pipe 19 controlled by a valve 20, said pipe 19 extending into one end of the chamber 13 and thence extending downwardly through and opening into the hood 14, whereby relatively moist steam may be fed to the hood 14 by closing the valve17, omitting the fire in the furnace 15 and opening the valve 20 so as to permit theY steam to pass directly,

from the nozzle 12 through the pipe 19 into the hood. Preferably, the-hood is provided with a marginal loutstanding flange 21 eX- tending entirely therearound above the .lower edge of the hood, whereby said lower 3o edge may be sunk into the ground and the flange 21 caused to engage with the ground so as to make a practically steam tight joint around the hood. 22 designates handles projecting out from the opposite ends of the hood, whereby the hood may be easily carried from place to place. 23 designates the steam discharge pipe of the hood and 24 designates the stack of thefurnace.

From the foregoing description in connection with the accompanying drawings, the operation of my improved tobacco bed steaming apparatus will be apparent. In traveling to t-heplace of operations, the hood 14 is carried on the vehicle 2, being held on the body of the vehicle between the standards 3, the detachable piping being also laid on the vehicle, as well as the supporting kblocks 9 and the detachable iexible hose connection 11. Upon arriving at the place where it is desired to steam the beds, the

apparatus is unshipped, the vehicle 2 left-- standing in the road alongside of the beds, if necessary, and 'the elbow 5- is fitted to the section 4 and the piping 6 fitted to the elbow 5 and extended laterally through the fence, for example, over the set of beds which it is desired to steam.v Obviously, owing to the fact that the elbow is mounted for a turning movement aboutI a longitudinally extending and horizontally disposed axis on the section 4 leading from the steam boiler 1, the piping 6 may be inclined as required and extended up a-hill, which is another advantage incidental to my improved constru ntion and arrangement of parts. In

from the chamber 13 to the interior of the1 v then to the next, and finally to thc outer end of the piping Gand then connected to the forwardly extending branches one after the other, until a comparatively wide range of beds has been steamed, it being, of course, understood that not only do the plurality of branches 7 and the extent of piping 6 permit the disposition of the steaming hood 14 over a wide area, but the same result is to a measure accomplished by the length of iexiblehose connection 11, whereby a plurality of beds may be steamed with the hose 11 connected to only one of the branches 7. It is, of course, to be understood that when the hose 11 is connected 'to either branch of a pair, the adjoining globe valve 10 between such pair and the outer end of the piping 6 is closed., From this description, the operation of the device will be clear to those skilled in the art to which this invention n appertains. Should dry steam be required, the globe valve 20is closed and the valve 11 is open, whereupon the steam will be again therefrom into the hood 14 through conduit 18. On the other hand, if comparatively moist steam be necessary, the valve 17 is Vclosed and the valve 20 opened, whereupon the steam will pass directly from the nozzle 12 through the pipe 19 into the hood.

While the accompanying drawings and foregoing description disclose what I believe to be the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but that various changes-may be made in the construction, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. An apparatus of the character described, embodying a steam boiler providedA with a pipe section, an elbow mounted to turn on said section and extending laterally therefrom, piping detachably connected to the laterally extending end of the elbow, the piping being^ provided with forwardly and rearwardly extending branches arranged in pairs, each brancl being provided with a valve and the piping being provided intermediate ofw' the pairs with valves, and a steaming hood arranged for operative connection with any of said branches.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, a steaming hood, a superheating vheated in the chamber 13 and discharged i Ymaman i e 8 leading into the chamber and 'opening controls for the nozzle and its branchan d a 15 therein, the nozzle being provided with a furnace for heating saidchamber.

branch pipe opening into' the hood, means 4. In an apparatus of the character defor controlling the nozzle and its. branch scribed, 'an o pen bottom steaming hood pro- 5 ipe, and a furnace for heating said supervided above its lower edge with an outstande'atmg chamber. ing marginal ange for the purpose speei- 20 3. In an apparat-us of the character de e Y e' scribed, a steaming hood, a superheatin In'testimon -whereof,I affix my signature chalnber sipported herem, and provide in presence o two witnesses 10 wit a con uit exten in ownwardl therefrom and opening into t e hood, a piype. pro- JOHN H' L' JOHNSON' [1 5'] vided with a nozzle o ening into the cham- Witnesses: ber and provided with a, branch extending Y T. M. WooDARD,

into and openinginto the hood, independent THOMAS LOWE. 

